What we book
What this desk books, what it refuses, and what happens after you confirm
An honest inventory. Four things we reserve, four we send elsewhere, and the order everything happens in once you have said yes.
The four reservations we take
A short stay, one to three days
The most common request on the desk. Drop off, fly, come back. Rates are daily rather than hourly, so a stay of under twenty four hours costs a full day and there is no way to dress that up.
A long stay, four days to four weeks
Where the daily rate starts to matter more than anything else. Beyond about ten days, ask about the weekly figures: several operators along the corridor price a week below seven days and we will say which when we quote.
A covered bay
Booked for a car that should not sit in salt air for two weeks, or for anybody who has once come back to a windscreen under a layer of the grey grit that blows off this corridor. Costs more and is worth it about half the time.
An oversized bay
Long wheelbase, a van, a roof box, a bike rack that does not come off. This is the reservation most likely to fail if it is not made ahead, because the number of oversized bays along the corridor is small and fixed.
What this desk refuses
Being dull about this now beats a surprise later.
- Valet handover. Where somebody takes your keys and moves the car themselves. That is a different service with a different set of responsibilities and we do not book it.
- Parking anywhere but this corridor. No Oakland, no San Jose, no other city. If the ground is not between here and SFO, the answer is no and it arrives the same day.
- Terminal garages. The airport runs those itself and it needs no help from a desk. If a terminal garage is what you want, deal with the airport directly.
- Payment through this website. No card field exists on any page and none is planned. Money is settled with the operator and the quote says how before you confirm.
Who actually keeps the car
Not us. The Constant Travellers takes the reservation, checks availability, quotes the rate and passes the confirmed booking to an independent operator who owns the ground, runs the gate and drives the shuttle.
No ground here is ours. No shuttle here is ours. Nobody at a gate anywhere is on our payroll, and no policy of ours covers a scratch on anybody's car. Every bay on this site is an operator's bay and their responsibility, which is why the same sentence appears on the front page, on this page and along the bottom of all twenty five.
The reason for saying it so flatly is simple. A desk that implied it owned the ground would be asked one honest question about the ground and the conversation would end there.
The sequence, once you have confirmed
- 1. You send the dates through the reservation form or by telephone.
- 2. We check availability along the corridor for those dates, and we answer with what is open plus a free quote covering the daily rate and everything that can be added to it.
- 3. You confirm, change something, or walk away. Nothing is held before that point and nothing is owed if you stop.
- 4. The booking goes to the operator, and four things come back to you: the street address, the hours their gate is manned, how often the shuttle runs and the number to ring on the day itself.
- 5. The operator takes the car when you arrive. A return flight that shifts is worth a message, because moving the dates costs nothing and letting a reservation lapse does not.
- 6. If something goes wrong on the ground, the operator's number is the one that can act; ours is the one that will chase them.
Why the form asks what it asks
| Field | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Drop off and pick up, with hours | Availability along this corridor is an hour by hour question |
| What you drive | Decides whether an ordinary bay will take it |
| Where the plate is from | Some operators log it at the gate, and out of state plates get asked about |
| Return flight number | Lets us extend the reservation before it lapses if you land late |
| Anything else | A roof box, a bike rack, a low front lip, a car that has to be left in gear |
Nothing on that list is there to build a profile. The privacy policy says what happens to it and how long it stays.
Ready when you are
Send the dates through the reservation form for a free quote, or call +1 (415) 906-2431 inside desk hours to speak to a specialist. Monday to Thursday 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, Friday 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, Pacific Time.